This invention relates to a housing for a pair of side-by-side watt-hour meter sockets having a removable cover panel for each socket, which cover panel protects its socket from accidental contact by a worker when the other cover panel is removed.
Side-by-side watt-hour meter sockets have been installed in housing assemblies which are designed for mounting on standard panelboard chassis. Such a housing provides a space-saving arrangement which permits the installation of individual meters for tenants in multiple occupancy buildings and shopping centers without requiring the complete reconstruction of the electrical supply system. Such an arrangement of side-by-side watt-hour meter sockets is shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,307, issued Nov. 1, 1983.
In the housing assembly shown in that patent, both side-by-side watt-hour meter sockets are exposed when an electrician works on one socket because a single cover panel closes the housing containing both side-by-side sockets. Utility company regulations and those of electrical workers unions in some jurisdictions prohibit the exposure of more than one watt-hour meter socket at any time. This is to prevent injury to a worker, working on one meter socket, from accidental contact with the other meter socket. The provision of separate cover panels for each meter socket would not completely solve this problem since the other meter socket would still be accessible when the workman is reaching inside the housing to work on one meter socket. The provision of a fixed barrier between the pair of side-by-side watt-hour meter sockets has been proposed but has not been proven feasible because of inherent mechanical problems in properly installing such a barrier.